List of recipients of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany

This is a list of notable recipients of the top two classes of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany.

Presidents of the Federal Republic of Germany
The President of the Federal Republic of Germany is conferred with the Grand Cross Special Class of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany (Sonderstufe des Großkreuzes) upon entering office as the ex-officio Grand Master of the order.


 * 12 September 1949: Theodor Heuss, President (1949–1959)
 * 13 September 1959: Heinrich Lübke, President (1959–1969)
 * 1 July 1969: Gustav Heinemann, President (1969–1974)
 * 1 July 1974: Walter Scheel, President (1974–1979)
 * 1 July 1979: Karl Carstens, President (1979–1984)
 * 1 July 1984: Richard von Weizsäcker, President (1984–1994)
 * 1 July 1994: Roman Herzog, President (1994–1999)
 * 1 July 1999: Johannes Rau, President (1999–2004)
 * 1 July 2004: Horst Köhler, President (2004–2010)
 * 30 June 2010: Christian Wulff, President (2010–2012)
 * 18 March 2012: Joachim Gauck, President (2012–2017)
 * 19 March 2017: Frank-Walter Steinmeier, President (2017–present)

Known dates

 * 20 May 1953: Getúlio Vargas, former President of Brazil
 * 20 July 1953: Manuel A. Odría, former President of Peru
 * 25 August 1953: Juan Perón, former President of Argentina
 * 30 October 1953: Gustavo Rojas Pinilla, former President of Colombia
 * 21 November 1953: Carlos Ibáñez del Campo, former President of Chile
 * 2 January 1954: Luigi Einaudi, former President of Italy
 * 8 March 1954: King Paul I of Greece
 * 15 April 1954: Marcos Pérez Jiménez, former President of Venezuela
 * 11 June 1954: Adolfo Ruiz Cortines, former President of Mexico
 * 12 June 1954: Celâl Bayar, former President of Turkey
 * 6 November 1954: Emperor Haile Selassie of Ethiopia
 * 11 November 1954: José María Velasco Ibarra, former President of Ecuador
 * 13 November 1954: Andrés Martínez Trueba, former President of Uruguay
 * 29 December 1954: Óscar Osorio, former President of El Salvador
 * 30 December 1954: Víctor Paz Estenssoro, former President of Bolivia
 * 3 January 1955: Ásgeir Ásgeirsson, former President of Iceland
 * 25 February 1955: Seán T. O'Kelly, former President of Ireland
 * 27 February 1955: Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi of Iran
 * 27 February 1955: Queen Soraya Esfandiary-Bakhtiary of Iran
 * 1955: Juscelino Kubitschek, former President of Brazil
 * 8 May 1956: Queen Frederica of Greece
 * 5 October 1956: William Tubman, former President of Liberia
 * 17 October 1956: Theodor Körner, former President of Austria
 * 8 December 1956: Giovanni Gronchi, former President of Italy
 * 29 July 1957: Manuel Prado Ugarteche, former President of Peru
 * 1957: Fulgencio Batista, President of Cuba
 * 20 October 1958: Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom
 * 20 October 1958: Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh
 * 28 July 1960: King Bhumibol Adulyadej of Thailand
 * 28 July 1960: Queen Sirikit of Thailand
 * 1960: Arturo Frondizi, former President of Argentina
 * 1961: Charles de Gaulle, former President of France
 * 7 August 1963: King Mohammad Zahir Shah of Afghanistan
 * 30 October 1963: Sukarno, former President of Indonesia
 * 20 November 1963: Diosdado Macapagal, former President of the Philippines
 * 20 November 1963: Eva Macapagal, former First Lady of the Philippines
 * 1964: King Mahendra of Nepal
 * 1964: Queen Ratna of Nepal
 * 9 March 1967: Sultan Ismail Nasiruddin, former Yang di-Pertuan Agong of Malaysia
 * 9 March 1967: Intan Zaharah, former Raja Permaisuri Agong of Malaysia
 * 27 May 1967: Shahbanu Farah Pahlavi of Iran
 * 1967: King Hussein of Jordan
 * 24 November 1969: Queen Juliana of the Netherlands
 * 24 November 1969: Prince Bernhard of Lippe-Biesterfeld
 * 17 May 1971: Nicolae Ceaușescu, former President of Romania
 * 18 June 1974: Queen Margrethe II of Denmark
 * 18 June 1974: Prince Henrik, Prince Consort of Denmark
 * 24 June 1974: Josip Broz Tito, former President of Yugoslavia
 * 27 April 1975: Valéry Giscard d'Estaing, former President of France
 * 19 April 1977: King Juan Carlos I of Spain
 * 19 April 1977: Queen Sofia of Spain
 * 2 December 1977: King Tāufaʻāhau Tupou IV of Tonga
 * 2 December 1977: Queen Halaevalu Mataʻaho ʻAhomeʻe of Tonga
 * 10 March 1979: King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden
 * 10 March 1979: Queen Silvia of Sweden
 * 6 June 1980: King Khalid of Saudi Arabia
 * 15 July 1980: António Ramalho Eanes, former President of Portugal
 * 21 January 1983: François Mitterrand, former President of France
 * 1 March 1983: Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands
 * 1 March 1983: Prince Claus of the Netherlands
 * 1985: Mauno Koivisto, former President of Finland
 * 1986: King Birendra of Nepal
 * 22 April 1986: Francesco Cossiga, former President of Italy
 * 4 July 1988: Vigdís Finnbogadóttir, former President of Iceland
 * 1 August 1991: Mário Soares, former President of Portugal
 * 7 September 1992: Sultan Azlan Shah, former Yang di-Pertuan Agong of Malaysia
 * 1992: Andrew Bertie, former Prince and Grand Master of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta
 * 13 September 1993: Emperor Akihito of Japan
 * 13 September 1993: Empress Michiko of Japan
 * 30 January 1994: George H. W. Bush, former President of the United States
 * 18 April 1994: King Harald V of Norway
 * 18 April 1994: Queen Sonja of Norway
 * 10 July 1995: King Albert II of Belgium
 * 10 July 1995: Queen Paola of Belgium
 * 2 April 1997: Tuanku Ja'afar, former Yang di-Pertuan Agong of Malaysia
 * 30 March 1998: Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah of Brunei
 * 15 April 1999: Fernando Henrique Cardoso, former President of Brazil
 * 19 May 1999: Guntis Ulmanis, former President of Latvia
 * 27 May 1999: Emir Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani of Qatar
 * 14 July 1999: Carlo Azeglio Ciampi, former President of Italy
 * 13 October 1999: Eduard Shevardnadze, former President of Georgia
 * 6 April 2000: Süleyman Demirel, former President of Turkey
 * 9 May 2000: Václav Havel, former President of the Czech Republic
 * 7 November 2000: Lennart Meri, former President of Estonia
 * 8 November 2001: Guido de Marco, former President of Malta
 * 10 December 2001: Tarja Halonen, former President of Finland
 * 21 October 2002: King Abdullah II of Jordan
 * 21 October 2002: Queen Rania of Jordan
 * 17 March 2003: Vaira Vīķe-Freiberga, former President of Latvia
 * 6 March 2005: Aleksander Kwaśniewski, former President of Poland
 * 25 October 2005: Valdas Adamkus, former President of Lithuania
 * 7 April 2006: Marc Ravalomanana, former President of Madagascar
 * 27 August 2008: John Kufuor, former President of Ghana
 * 26 May 2009: Aníbal Cavaco Silva, former President of Portugal
 * 27 April 2010: Amir Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah of Kuwait
 * 23 April 2012: Henri, Grand Duke of Luxembourg
 * 9 July 2012: Albert II, Prince of Monaco
 * 28 February 2013: Giorgio Napolitano, former President of Italy
 * 8 July 2013: Toomas Hendrik Ilves, former President of Estonia
 * 11 July 2013: Dalia Grybauskaitė, former President of Lithuania
 * 3 September 2013: François Hollande, former President of France
 * 5 May 2014: Miloš Zeman, former President of the Czech Republic
 * 25 November 2014: Borut Pahor, former President of Slovenia
 * 29 April 2015: Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca, former President of Malta
 * 6 March 2016: King Philippe of Belgium
 * 6 March 2016: Queen Mathilde of Belgium
 * 22 June 2016: Rosen Plevneliev, former President of Bulgaria
 * 17 November 2017: Andrej Kiska, former President of Slovakia
 * 17 September 2018: Sauli Niinistö, former President of Finland
 * 22 February 2019: Raimonds Vējonis, former President of Latvia
 * 12 June 2019: Guðni Th. Jóhannesson, President of Iceland
 * 19 September 2019: Sergio Mattarella, President of Italy
 * 21 October 2019: Giacomo dalla Torre del Tempio di Sanguinetto, former Prince and Grand Master of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta
 * 5 July 2021: King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands
 * 5 July 2021: Queen Máxima of the Netherlands
 * 10 November 2021: Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark
 * 17 October 2022: King Felipe VI of Spain
 * 17 October 2022: Queen Letizia of Spain
 * 29 March 2023: King Charles III of the United Kingdom
 * 29 March 2023: Queen Camilla of the United Kingdom
 * 24 May 2023: Klaus Iohannis, President of Romania
 * 12 February 2024: Nikos Christodoulides, President of Cyprus

Unknown dates

 * Isa bin Salman Al Khalifa
 * Amha Selassie
 * Empress Kōjun
 * Adolf Schärf
 * Luis Somoza Debayle
 * Ahmed Sékou Touré
 * Héctor Trujillo
 * Suharto
 * Siti Hartinah
 * Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson
 * Martti Ahtisaari
 * Qaboos bin Said
 * Hassan II of Morocco
 * Baudouin of Belgium
 * Princess Joséphine-Charlotte of Belgium
 * Paul Biya
 * Gustaf VI Adolf
 * Ingrid of Sweden
 * Park Chung Hee
 * Olav V of Norway
 * Makarios III
 * Raúl Alfonsín
 * Paul VI
 * John XXIII

Grand Crosses Special Issue

 * 31 January 1954: Konrad Adenauer, former Chancellor of Germany
 * 1998: Helmut Kohl, former Chancellor of Germany
 * 2009: Leo-Ferdinand Henckel von Donnersmarck, President of the German Association of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta
 * 17 April 2023: Angela Merkel, former Chancellor of Germany